National Report: Trump Ramps Up Enforcement of Federal Gun Laws for Second Straight Year

[The Heretic]

Report: Trump Ramps Up Enforcement of Federal Gun Laws for Second Straight Year | Tenth Amendment Center

The ATF ramped up enforcement of unconstitutional federal gun laws again in 2018 according to the latest report released by the agency. This follows on the heels of increased enforcement actions during President Trump's first year in office. Last year, the ATF investigated 35,839 firearms cases...

tenthamendmentcenter.com

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[NW Backpacker]

This article is meaningless tripe without a list of the types of offenses the DOJ prosecuted, and the numbers for each, with a similar list and numbers for previous years.

 

[The Heretic]

This article is meaningless tripe without a list of the types of offenses the DOJ prosecuted, and the numbers for each, with a similar list and numbers for previous years.

They are almost all unconstitutional laws - so does it really matter?

 

[Alexx1401]

The ATF ramped up enforcement of unconstitutional federal gun laws again last year

This leads the article, then a page of nothing but words saying nothing other than Trump is evil. Can't seem to find any examples of these "unconstitutional gun laws" other than the bump stock thing, which I too think was stupid. Last I read so far one person has been gone after for that. Article just forgets to mention what their problem is with all these cases that are being gone after. Just a lot of griping about law breakers being gone after. So while one side daily tell me we need more gun laws, many gun owners, like me, say we have plenty of laws. Enforce them. In other words go after criminals, not me. So here we have someone who claims to be pro gun, saying the real problem is Trump. Next election there is only going to be 2 choices for POTUS. So by all means lets vote in whoever they put up against Trump. surely they will tell the ATF to stop going after law breakers and they will not support more gun laws. This has to be a mental disorder effecting these people if they really believe what they write.

 

[The Heretic]

The only laws I can think of that the ATF enforces that could be considered constitutional, would be arson and using explosives to blow things up that they should blow up (like people and property) without permission.

The rest is tax stuff on things that shouldn't be taxed, laws against certain types of firearms, paperwork, etc.

Other than that, selling firearms to criminals (some people debate whether being a convicted felon means you can't own a firearm).

If the article came out while Obama was POTUS you can be assured that everybody here would be jump all over him - but per the faithful, Trump can do no wrong. Ok be that way.

 

[slimmer13]

Isn't that what we are always saying? Why dont we enforce current law instead of adding more useless laws?

 

[CountryGent]

Isn't that what we are always saying? Why dont we enforce current law instead of adding more useless laws?

I can't speak for others, but not me. In addition to not adding new brain-dead laws, I want to see the grossly unconstitutional laws repealed immediately.

 

[slimmer13]

I can't speak for others, but not me. In addition to not adding new brain-dead laws, I want to see the grossly unconstitutional laws repealed immediately.

Yeah me too, but wish in one hand.....

 

[The Heretic]

Isn't that what we are always saying? Why dont we enforce current law instead of adding more useless laws?

Yes, people say that.

People also say we have too many laws - we have well over 10,000 gun laws - as a response to yet more laws, and I agree - to a point. I don't agree with enforcement of unconstitutional gun laws.

Pro-gun people also complain a lot about those laws and their enforcement. Many complain about the NFA - myself included - which to me, seems to be the primary raison d'etre for the ATF - at least with regards to firearms. Take the NFA and GCA off the books and I would bet that the number of ATF investigations and prosecutions would decrease substantially.

So why, if Trump is supposed to be pro-gun or at least not anti-gun, did the investigations increase so significantly compared to when Obama was in office?

 

[CountryGent]

Giving an example from our local area:

Case One: A couple with a family, a clean criminal record, who are law-abiding, and value their freedom. When adding NFA-regulated items to their equipment they pay the tax, complete the stupid paperwork, wait an eternity for a government agency to process everything, then continue to play by the rules after finally receiving approval. (Yes, I am talking about me and my wife.)

Case Two: A POS meth addict who, before being canned, worked in some kind of mechanical field. He's eventually popped for meth-related activities and possession, and for making a bunch of unregistered silencers he was selling on the side to finance his addiction. (That was an actual news story from this county.)

Did the law stop the meth mutant from doing what he was doing? Nope, not even kind of. Did it add considerable expense, delays, and hassle for the law-abiding? Of course it did. Another gun control success story!

 

[The Heretic]

Giving an example from our local area:

Case One: A couple with a family, a clean criminal record, who are law-abiding, and value their freedom. When adding NFA-regulated items to their equipment they pay the tax, complete the stupid paperwork, wait an eternity for a government agency to process everything, then continue to play by the rules after finally receiving approval. (Yes, I am talking about me and my wife.)

Case Two: A POS meth addict who, before being canned, worked in some kind of mechanical field. He's eventually popped for meth-related activities and possession, and for making a bunch of unregistered silencers he was selling on the side to finance his addiction. (That was an actual news story from this county.)

Did the law stop the meth mutant from doing what he was doing? Nope, not even kind of. Did it add considerable expense, delays, and hassle for the law-abiding? Of course it did. Another gun control success story!

And in other countries where you can buy suppressors over the counter, the meth head would probably not have been busted for making them at all, any more than he would have been busted for making mufflers for cars.

Indeed, illegal possession of meth is another unconstitutional law.

 

[NW Backpacker]

They are almost all unconstitutional laws - so does it really matter?

Yes, it matters. I want them to prosecute bad guys, and to leave law-abiding gun owners alone. You do want them to prosecute bad guys, right? In order to determine if the ramp up in prosecutions is good or bad, we need to know the circumstances of each prosecution - what laws were broken, what was the history of the prosecuted person, etc. I get it, there are a lot of gun laws that should not exist, but I also suspect there are a lot of people who should not have a gun because they have proven that they will hurt others, right?

So why, if Trump is supposed to be pro-gun or at least not anti-gun, did the investigations increase so significantly compared to when Obama was in office?

Good question which the article should have answered, but didn't because they only had one point to make: Orange man bad.

And in other countries where you can buy suppressors over the counter, the meth head would probably not have been busted for making them at all, any more than he would have been busted for making mufflers for cars.

Indeed, illegal possession of meth is another unconstitutional law.

Pot is now legal and based on the frequency of running into the stench from it, a lot of people must be using it. If that is an indication of the frequency that people would use meth if it were legalized; and if this list of meth head crimes is what happens to you on meth, then I think we might want to continue to make it illegal:

10 Meth-iest Crimes (Allegedly) Committed by Arizona Meth-Heads

Few places in the world have meth-heads like Arizona does.While the number of exploding meth labs isn't as high as it used to be, the meth users still seem to be as high as ever. Now, after much research of the New Times criminal meth-head archives, we bring you 10...

www.phoenixnewtimes.com

 

[NW Backpacker]

Unraveling the drivel of an obvious TDS-inspired article is a waste of my time, but I did it anyway JUST FOR YOU GUYS. I found this gem in the 2017 and 2018 ATF reports under "Defendants" - this blows away the entire premise of the OP article:

"In fiscal year 2017 case and defendant data presents a snapshot in time of matters proceeding through the various phases of the judicial process. The typical ATF case recommended for prosecution remains open over a period of approximately 4 years. Cases and defendants indicted, convicted, and sentenced are not subsets of cases and defendants recommended for prosecution in 2017. The snapshot presents actual judicial activity in the fiscal year regardless of the year the matter was recommended for prosecution. The reader is cautioned not to calculate, for example, "percentage indicted" based upon the presented data as the case indicted may have been presented in a previous fiscal year."


Source: Fact Sheet - Facts and Figures for Fiscal Year 2017 | Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

On that same page is data on the 2017 Defendants. I'm thinking that prosecuting people with an average of 8.7 prior arrests and 2.3 prior convictions may not be a bad thing in many cases. Who agrees? (click like if you do) Statistics are similar for years 2014, 2015, and 2016 which you can access in footnote #1 links here:
Report: Trump Administration Ramps up Enforcement of Federal Gun Laws | | Tenth Amendment Center

2017 ATF DATA:
Defendants:

• Recommended for prosecution: 15,106
• Prior Arrests: 131,078 or an average of 8.744 prior arrests per defendant recommended for prosecution.
• Prior Convictions: 34,256 or an average of 2.3 prior convictions per defendant recommended for prosecution.
• Defendants indicted: 10,878
• Number convicted: 8,637
• Received life sentence: 43
• Received death sentences: 14

 

[BPOR11]

Take the NFA and GCA off the books and I would bet that the number of ATF investigations and prosecutions would decrease substantially.

Ya think? If we got rid of the DOE, would fuel be cheaper? If we made a Dept of Peace, would we all be safer?

RINO's stopped doing anything that their platform supposedly runs on when Trump became POTUS (even to their own detriment) out of PURE CONTEMPT for someone who wasn't one of THEM beating them at their own game. We elected him for a reason and they can't stand it. Their true colors are exposed due to their uncontrolled hate for someone who wanted to do right by us and our best interests as a country...this should tell us how corrupt our system is.

Right now, I don't know if he's caving, wavering or just succumbing to all the people whispering in his ear. God help us.